The friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers.

In the days of old, hospitality was described as the virtue of a great soul that cares for the whole universe through the ties of humanity. Perhaps this is why I have such an affinity for the industry and a vested interest to keep the humanity in the hospitality business intact. When I was 10 years old I fell in love with travel and everything to do with the hospitality business. Our family went on a vacation to Hawaii, when we stepped off the plane we were greeted by beautiful women in long flowing dresses who draped tropical leis around our necks and offered us coconut drinks. After seeing the white sandy beaches, volcanic landscapes and listening to Don Ho perform Tiny Bubbles, I was hooked on travel.

My love of adventure and experiencing new cultures blossomed over the years. Upon graduation from high school, I pursued a degree in Hospitality Management. I embarked on a four year program and after college, landed a job in the hotel industry in Miami and I was off and running and the pace was fast, just the way I liked it. Over the span of my career, I ran global marketing for an international hotel company, opened some awesome golf courses for some of the biggest names in golf and worked in branding for the restaurant industry.

This afforded me the opportunity to travel and see the world.

The trip to Hawaii was the catalyst for discovering my passion for travel and hospitality. Thinking back, it was fairly obvious, I always loved entertaining. There were endless calls for play-dates and parties for all occasions. I am pretty sure I drove my mother crazy with my requests for visitors to come for dinner and occasionally stay longer. Mom always seemed a little more hospitable when guests were around too.

When friends come to visit our home, there is a turn down amenity on the bed and usually a special surprise for them during their stay. We love to break bread together with friends and family on a regular basis. Whenever we would visit foreign countries inevitably strangers became our new friends.

Hospitality means inclusion, sharing cultural nuances and treating people with civility and a welcoming smile. These are the hallmarks of the industry. I can’t imagine what would happen to our industry if we compromised these important values. When I heard the story about the Red Hen Restaurant I was appalled. This type of behavior hearkens back to the 60’s a time none of us wish to relive. To quote Michelle Obama, “When they go low, we go high.” I truly hope politics isn’t the new flash point for our industry and we haven’t created a backwards slide. I love the hospitality industry and preserving the civility and humanity is worth fighting for.

Great events don’t just happen they take careful planning. Over the course of my career I have planned hundreds of events from grand openings, to book launches, to special events, to simple holiday parties. There is a formula for successful events and it all starts with organization.

Start with an objective or goal. Then ask yourself a series of questions. What do you want to accomplish? How many people will be coming? What venue is best? Do we need entertainment? What is your budget? Once you have established some benchmarks, check for dates. It is always good to be aware of other organizations schedules and holiday’s or religious dates. If your event is speaker driven the date will revolve around the speaker schedule. Secure that as soon as possible and work backwards from there.

Remember to brand your event. Think about a theme, work on a name this creates a good buzz. In Miami, when I was running a CEO women’s group, I partnered with a University to create a survey of Top Women Led Organizations. As part of the theme we released the results of the survey and called the event the Top Women-Led Business’s in South Florida. With branding today, it is important to have #topwomen and other readily available tools for attendees so you can get tweets and social sharing for your event immediately on all platforms.

Beyond the branding, logo and press releases announcing the event with location details, the real secret sauce is in the special touches. Thinking intuitively and creatively makes the difference between a good event and great event.

At one event I planned, the President of a Catholic School was speaking. She was a women of faith and a Sister of the cloth. I liked to hand pick walk up music for the speakers based on their personality or job. It took me a long time to come up with something clever for Sister, but I knew she had a great personality. As she approached the podium over the speaker came, You Gotta Have Faith, by George Michael. Sister Linda laughed out loud and said, “I wondered what you were going to select for me, I am just glad it wasn’t monks with chimes.” Those little touches made an impression. When people left the event I could hear them laughing and saying “these lunches are always so much fun”.

Always remember to be grateful. Having thank you gifts or cards pre-wrapped at the podium or in the mail the day of the event is a classy way to remind people you appreciate them. The cards arrive within a day or two after the conclusion of your event and you are still top of mind.

Treat your speaker with the utmost respect. Speakers like some down time to compose their thoughts. Greet them upon arrival and whisk them away to a quiet room with a bite to eat and drink. If there are books to sell or sign, I would pre-sign book labels to accelerate the lines and have volunteers on hand to get things moving as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Planning great events is all in the little details. I must have done something right because I received this kind hand written note days after an event from one of my most favorite speakers. Obviously, she practices showing gratitude and knows the value of a tiny gesture too.

Prince Edward Island, or PEI, as it is fondly referred to by the natives is located off the eastern coast of Canada, nestled between the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Charlottetown is the capital. The area feels very much like a harbor town with boatyards and lighthouses dotting the coast line.

The island is a mix of red sandstone cliffs, soft blue skies, and the white-capped waves from the surrounding sea.

Places to Go & Discover

When the novel Anne of Green Gables was first published in 1908, most people could only dream of visiting its magical setting. The book gained popularity around the world and was translated into 36 languages. The story was about an orphan named Anne Shirley who came to Cavendish on Price Edward Island to live with a family. Today millions of the book’s fans have made the trip to PEI and discovered the land that captivated Anne in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s stories. I am no exception; little orphan Anne captured my heart and I had to tour her homestead and buy a few souvenirs. Apparently Green Gables is one of the most visited places by Chinese tourists coming to the island as well. We hired a driver and did our own private tour. The house is small and is best done independently not with a tour group. Be sure to stroll down lover’s lane before you depart. The trip to Green Gables can be combined with a lovely drive down the north shore of Cavendish Beach.

Dine-Devour

If you like mollusks, you will love PEI. There are endless supplies of clams, oysters, mussels and all varieties of fresh seafood. It doesn’t get more fresh or favorable than a PEI oyster or mussel. They pluck them from the sea and shuck them at your table. Experienced slurpers, which I am not one of, may choose to adopt particular rituals, while beginners will find these simple do’s and don’ts helpful. Knowing the basics can help you better appreciate the entire tasting. As a beginner, I have a fear of the oyster. Try Blue Mussel Café in North Rustico Harbor.

Expert Insight- Consume Plenty of Seafood

There are many ways to enjoy raw oysters on the half shell, depending on the situation and place. Whether it’s an intimate tasting or a relaxed “shuck & suck” right at the source, the key is to pay attention and have fun. When a fresh oyster is properly shucked, a small pool of clear liquid will remain with the oyster in the bottom half shell. It is actually filtered sea water in which the oyster lives, and it holds a robust amount of flavor. By sipping this liquid immediately before or after eating the oyster it will naturally complement the meat. You can even sip a little to start have the oyster, and then finish the remaining liquid. Whatever you do DON’T pour out the oyster’s liquor. This is the best part. If there isn’t any liquid this tells you the oyster isn’t fresh. Do NOT swallow it without chewing; that would defeat the entire purpose of a tasting. Once the entire oyster is in your mouth, pause for a second to appreciate the initial flavors.

My bucket ran over last year when by husband presented me with Derby tickets for the 143rd Running of the Roses at Churchill Downs. The race has been nicknamed the “Run for the Roses” because the winner is given a garland of more than 400 red roses sewn together, a tradition that dates back to 1932. There is a reason they call it “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports,” as frivolous as it sounds those two minutes didn’t disappoint. Growing up I loved everything to do with horses. I rode and competed in English Style in upstate New York for many years.

The Kentucky Derby held May 5th is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, and is followed by the Preakness Stakes on May 19 and the Belmont Stakes on June 9. The 1 1/4-mile race runs on a dirt racetrack at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

Last year the dirt turned into mud after a morning deluge but that didn’t stop our fun.

Twenty horses enter the Derby, which is one of the largest fields in horse racing. To qualify for the Derby, horses and their jockeys travel on the road to the Kentucky Derby, a series of 35 races featuring a point system. The top four finishers of those races earn points and the top 20 horses from the 35 races earn a spot in the starting post in the Kentucky Derby race.

Churchill Downs is packed with over 150,000 fans all dressed to the nines with hats and sipping mint juleps hoping for their pick to be the one lucky windfall of the race. In fact, Always Dreaming, last year’s winner, did provide a little pay day for us helping me to recoup the cost of my dress and hat. The whole weekend was a lovely experience full of southern charm and hospitality. You should plan on spending a good amount of money to check this bucket list item off.

Places to Stay

During the Derby you have hotels that are high-end and make their year during Derby weekend and a selection of very nice Bed & Breakfast establishments. The B & B options were less pricey but not by much.

We stayed at a charming bed & breakfast close to Churchill Downs called The Samuel Culbertson Mansion. This was a good plan because the day of the race it rained and we were able to take a quick rickshaw ride right into the stadium. Many visitors were traipsing through the mud, dresses and white slacks ruined and splattered as they fought their way into the Downs.

Places to Go & Things to See

Louisville can be summed up in three words, bourbon, horses & history. Before the Derby went off, we had a drink at the historic Brown Hotel and toured a couple of the distilleries in downtown Louisville. The Galt House is another well-known stop for a drink or a bite. The Louisville Slugger Museum was a fun and interactive stop. You get to make a bat and take a few swings in a cage. When planning your trip reserve your dinner reservations ahead of time. Most of the restaurants are booked out months in advance. We ate at Bucks and 610 Magnolia.

Expert Insight

I don’t like to be negative but there was one area of dissatisfaction during our visit. Churchill Downs has very poor signage and flow. When we and the other 150,000 people were departing it was a sea of crushing bodies pushing and trampling one another to get out. For a world-class sporting venue like the Derby, I was shocked and disappointed by the experience. People were pinned against the tunnel walls and it was very uncomfortable. There were handicapped people who couldn’t get through and no one was around from the stadium to direct the flow or help. This needs to be improved or someone will get hurt.

The Race

Who will it be this year? The odds makers are abuzz with speculations. Betting is complicated. You have to take into consideration so many details including the horses’ pedigree, breeder, trainer, jockey, race position and past wins. Last year it rained a good amount and some horse are considered good “mudders” while others are not so great. The process of dissecting and selecting can be overwhelming and exhilarating. We were in section 113, Row 3 by the finish line and just under cover enough so we didn’t get wet when the relentless rain kept coming all day. The pomp and circumstance was rich, the Juleps were flowing and they were off. You’re out of your seat cheering as the blaze of horse’s race by. As the field narrows you can barely control your excitement as you see your horse, Always Dreaming, clomping his way to first place. You never know when another Secretariat or American Pharaoh is just around the corner.

Dreams do come true! This year, we’ll be watching from our living room but our memories will keep us smiling for years to come.

Here is to the field for 2018 and it’s off to the races on May 5th at 6:34 post time!

As the youngest of four I was always getting teased, taunted and told what to do. Somehow as they years went by the roles shifted. Although the personality traits noted by the birth order theorist Alfred Adler don’t mirror my siblings there are some similarities.

The birth order theory began in the late 1920s with Alfred Adler, Sigmund Freud’s friend and colleague. Adler believed that the order in which you are born into a family inherently affects your personality.

The first-born (oldest) child. According to Adler, the oldest child tends to be conservative, power-oriented, and predisposed toward leadership. Because they often take responsibility for their younger siblings, firstborns grow up to be caring, more willing to become parents, and more likely to take initiative.

General traits of the oldest include;

Reliable

Conscientious

Structured

Cautious

Controlling

Over Achievers

The second (middle) child. Since the older brother or sister is a “pace-setter” for the second child, they often struggle to surpass their older sibling. The pace of development is higher. The middle kids in a family often tend to be ambitious, but they are rarely selfish. They are also more likely to set unreasonably high goals for themselves. This increases the number of failures, however knowing how to cope with difficulties in life is what makes them stronger.

Middle children tend to possess the following characteristics;

People-pleasers

Somewhat Rebellious

Peacemakers

Wider Social Circle

Thrives on friendships

The last-born (youngest) child. As a rule, the youngest child gets a lot of care and attention from parents and even older siblings. That is why they may feel less experienced and independent. However, last-borns are usually highly motivated to surpass their older sisters and brothers. Very often they achieve a big success and earn recognition in their chosen field. They become the fastest athletes, the best musicians, or the most talented artists. The youngest children in a family tend to be very sociable, though they are likely to be more irresponsible and frivolous than older children. Youngest children tend to be the most free-spirited due to their parents’ increasingly laissez-faire attitude towards parenting the second (or third, or fourth, or fifth…) time around.

The baby of the family tends to be;

Fun-loving

Manipulative

Outgoing

Attention Seeking

Uncomplicated

I would say most of the above does fit my personality. There is another category worth noting for exceptions when age gaps within families exist. In our case, 10-12 years between my older sibling and I, they call these Gap Children.

Gap Children: They consider at least five years in between births a substantial gap in the birth order structure. A 2-year-old boy with an 8-year-old older sister isn’t going adopt middle-child traits, but rather those of a firstborn. This gap can lead to perfectionist traits more like an only child.

The adjectives don’t always fit the personality but it is fun to take a look at what it means to be one of many in a birth order on this April 10th, Sibling Day. As the quote says, we all know blood is thicker than water. We readily pick on each other but heaven help the outsider who comes between you and your sibling.

Time is the great equalizer we all have 60 minutes an hour, 24 hours each day, 168 hours each week, 8,736 hours each year. Do you ever wonder how some people seem so efficient with the use of their time while you are always running late, and chasing your time?

Prioritize

Here’s their secret: busy people make time, for the activities they decide are important. They also know where they spend their time. So ask yourself, “Where do I lose time?” When you find the answers to that question you will be on the path to saving precious time. It happens to me almost every night. I tell my husband, I am going upstairs to the office for an hour to pay some bills and do a few things. Three hours later from beneath the staircase a voice calls up, “Are you coming down anytime tonight?” Somehow time has a way of running away from me.

Schedule

Enter my new best friend, the stopwatch. The stopwatch was invented by Samuel Watson in 1659. It was originally used for horse races. I was feeling a bit like a race horse shot out of the gate at full speed only to endlessly circle the track for hours with no real sense of accomplishment always missing the winners circle time and again. The modern day stopwatch, which can be found on all smart phones, has become my Robin Hood. Stealing precious intervals of time back for me to use more efficiently or put in my bank providing a well-defined starting and finishing line. One of my goals this year was to find more time to write, blog and use my creative juices. The stopwatch can help recapture time. It speaks directly to you, a private reminder that your time is up. Allowing you to track and block time more efficiently.

Execute

Time management takes discipline but poor time management can take a toll and result in fatigue, moodiness and illness. Part of execution means you chart your time and track your progress by setting deadlines and keeping them. Be sure take time to recognize that you have accomplished a major task or challenge before moving on to the next activity. Ask yourself a few questions: Do you have a healthy work, life balance? Are you accomplishing the priorities that are most important in your life? Are you investing enough time in your own personal wellbeing? If the answer is “no” to any of these questions, then reconsider your time management strategies and set your stopwatch for one hour and determine how you can make better use of your time and what would result in deeper more meaning fulfillment.

In case you missed it, this just happened- 12 local restaurants and farms came together to create a culinary showcase all in support of education for the next generation of hospitality and culinary students in Palm Beach County. What does EATS stand for? (Education, Agriculture, Together, Showcase)

Some of the best restaurants in Palm Beach came out to create and support the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association at the EATS event hosted under the stars at the West Palm Beach Hilton. Chef’s from The Regional, Eau Palm Beach, Harvest Seasonal Grill, The Blend Bistro, Echo at the Breakers and more joined forces to create mini-masterpieces with fresh produce from local farmers.

Pistache French Bistro worked with Spivey Farms/ Roe & Sons to create a Slow Orange & Almond Cake with a Local Berry Compote.

Over 200 hospitality industry professionals, friends, teachers, students and foodies converged on Friday night in the open air lawn of the West Palm Beach Hilton to enjoy great food, fun and some amazing auction prizes.

The ProStart and HTMP students from Palm Beach area high schools participated by serving, hosting and welcoming guests. FAU professors, students and alumni also took part in the fun by working various stations, assisting with photography and the auction. Florida’s top two industries are Tourism and Agriculture. This powerful collaboration has unlimited potential to grow into a signature event for Palm Beach County. Florida has 112 million visitors a year and in 2016 they spent $111 billion in our state. The Agriculture industry employees over 2 million people and contributes $104 billion to the state’s economy. Look for a bigger and better EATS event next year. We hope to see you there!

That’s when a family trip to Hawaii “turned her life upside down,” said Cross, regional director for the Palm Beach County chapter of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association. At that young age, she realized there was a whole world out there to discover and many more places she wanted to see.

Today, Cross is an avid traveler, equestrian, golfer and hospitality marketing professional with over 20 years in the business working with brands whose properties span the globe. But the place she likes to work more than anywhere in the world is at home.

Cross talked to the Business Journal about her first job, a recent trip that stood out and technology she can’t live without.

Can you talk about one of the best trips you’ve ever taken? Two years ago, my husband and I went to Paris, where his father was shot down in World War II. While we were there, we found the person who headed up the historical registry of pilots shot down during the war. He happened to know the owners of the farm where he crashed. When we got there, we met this old woman who remembered the day it happened. Then her son comes out with this crate and asks us, “Would you like to take a piece of your father’s plane with you?” It was just amazing. Here is a piece WPBF ran about our trip when we returned. https://youtu.be/IIVGq9ZlQHo

How did you get into horseback riding? When I grew up in Rochester, I started riding horses and it became a passion of mine. I’ve been riding ever since. We make it part of our trips, like when last year I went to North Carolina, I rode three or four times. We went down to Puerto Rico recently and had a riding experience there. I used to ride often at Wandering Trails in Palm Beach Gardens.

Where will your next trip be? I just booked a cruise and we’re going to Quebec, Montreal and Halifax in Canada.

What was your first job in hospitality? I started out as a sales manager with Interstate Hotels at the former Sheraton Brickell Point. My boss was an ex-nun and she used to work all night long. Meeting her probably would have sent someone running out of that career immediately, but she really taught me a lot about my craft and the relentless pursuit of excellence.

What’s the best piece of advice you received? When I was the executive director at The Commonwealth Institute of South Florida, the founder, Lois Silverman, had some interesting advice. She told me: Think about the answer you want before you ask the question. I took that to heart.

What makes a good leader? A lot of times, as a leader, you have to step back from working on your business. You have to go from working in your business, to working on your business. A lot of people are putting out fires every day and don’t take the time to think about strategy. I take some quiet time in the morning and think, “What are the two things that we’re going to accomplish today that move revenue forward?” You get into your busy day and lose sight of that strategy sometimes. My to-do list never ends.

If you could work anywhere in the world, where would it be? I really like to work from home. With today’s portable office situation, you can pretty much work anywhere. I love having that flexible work environment, where you can be anywhere and still be productive.

What are the positives of doing business in South Florida? The negatives? The diversity is a plus. It’s a real melting pot down here. You have so many people who have relocated down here from around the world, and they have a ton of talents. As for the negatives, I find that some people don’t have the same work ethic and values down here as they do in the Northeast and Midwest.

What’s an app you can’t live without? I just love Uber. I use it all the time.

If we are going to make America great again shouldn’t we figure out what is making us so angry? What is really behind all this anger in America? When you ask people it varies a great deal by demographic, age and political party. For the last 8 years, Republicans were angry about Obama, now Democrats are angry with Trump. Politics aside, everyone seems angry about government overreach, greed, school shootings, terrorism in America and unfair practices which put hard working Americans at a disadvantage. The problem with all this anger is no one is willing to listen to one another without a shouting match.

When you unpack the emotional side of anger you realize it’s just a mask. Anger is a way of dealing with a situation without addressing the feelings behind the emotion. Anger covers up fear, jealousy, frustration and feelings of powerlessness from a given situation. Angry people tend to be poor communicators and worse listeners.

One of the key storylines of our political culture has been the American Dream — the sense that if you work hard, you will get ahead. I know a lot of people who have worked hard their entire life, myself included. If I ask my husband what angers him, it is the notion that he has played by the rules, paying taxes and giving back while others don’t play by the same rules. Deep down we feel a sense of struggle for trying to live out our own personal version of the American dream.

When you do a google search you can find angry people in all categories. There are the obvious results, “activists outraged,” or “angry conservatives”. But you may be surprised to find “angry vegans,” who are upset over the owners of a chain of plant-based restaurants who have taken to eating meat—on their own farm and their own time. There is a group blaming coffee called “caffeine rage,” where people are angry about coffee, both not having enough and having too much. And here is a strange one, “Angry Knitters” (something about the U.S. Olympic Committee not letting them use the term “knitters’ Olympics,” but people with large needles that can poke your eyes out should be paid attention to.) If we are looking for a culprit, maybe Starbucks is to blame for providing too much access to caffeine.

As we turn the page on a tumultuous year, let’s all try to unite for a common cause, America the great and powerful nation we call home. I have always found by showing people courtesy, respect and dignity you open the channels of communication. We need open channels if we are going to get things accomplished. There is a quote from Martin Luther King which summarizes our conundrum in a positive way. We are all individuals and we can live, work and play in harmony through respect. “If I wish to compose or write or pray or preach well, I must be angry,” Martin Luther King once said. “Then all the blood in my veins is stirred, and my understanding is sharpened.”

Let us be stirred in a positive way and our senses be sharpened for the common good of all.

Goal Keeper Tim Howard was featured on the CBS Series Note to Self where he wrote about his personal journey and the things he learned along the way. Tim mentioned the different roles self-belief and self-confidence played in his life. Many people use self-esteem and self-confidence interchangeably but they are quite different. Self-confidence can depend […]

Goal Keeper Tim Howard was featured on the CBS Series Note to Self where he wrote about his personal journey and the things he learned along the way. Tim mentioned the different roles self-belief and self-confidence played in his life. Many people use self-esteem and self-confidence interchangeably but they are quite different. Self-confidence can depend on performance, whereas self-belief comes from a nurturing place inside you which encourages and keeps you striving for greatness.

Self-esteem refers to how you feel about yourself overall and how much positive self-love you have. Your esteem develops from experiences and situations which have shaped how you view yourself in the world. Self-confidence is how you feel about your abilities and can vary from situation to situation. I may have healthy self-esteem, but low confidence about situations involving my math skills (this is true).

When you hold yourself in high regard, your belief in yourself improves, which makes you more confident. When you are confident in areas of your life, you begin to increase your overall sense of worth. There were many lessons I learned in my twenties which have shaped me today and strengthened my self-belief. These lessons, although painful at times, proved critical for developing coping skills later in life.

Your self-esteem can wane when you start to compare yourself with others. You feel great until you sit next to a super model then a critical spirit takes hold and you spiral into self-doubt. Embracing your authentic self means you trust yourself. The difference between our belief and confidence hinges on how much faith we have in ourselves and our abilities.

It makes sense that if we have a realistic internal rating of ourselves and see ourselves as equally competent, intelligent and attractive as others, we will feel confident in what we can do as well. However, there are times when we lack confidence and our ego takes hold to cover up a short coming. We have all heard the saying, “Fake it until you make it”. I have had to deploy this tactic before. In my experience, you should always circle back and shore up the short coming so it doesn’t come back to bite you later on.

Inside each one of us resides a little voice, a spark of belief, who knows what we are capable of and has faith in our abilities. We just need to ignite the spark and let it shine! I like what Tim said, “Never lose the underlying belief in yourself”. Anything is possible if we have faith and believe in ourselves!